


hurry, leave me

by idontknowhowtoread (heatherpotts)



Category: Asagao Academy: Normal Boots Club
Genre: M/M, basically: fuck jared, new canon end lol, title from mitski hoo hoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 05:39:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18844738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heatherpotts/pseuds/idontknowhowtoread
Summary: Jeff gives his life to break the Seal of Immortality.





	hurry, leave me

**Author's Note:**

> shout out. to the asagao academy wiki vandals for manifesting the new canon end. bro I had to write it

This didn't feel like they were winning.

 

The battleground was quieter now, but the roar still echoed in his ears. Heavy footsteps, screams and battle cries, much too far away now. Metal slicing through the air, magic disheveling the earth, but most deafening, the shattering of -----'s seal. It sounded like a thousand mirrors shattering, like a lion roaring, like heavy rain and an even heavier roar of thunder. Even within it all, PBG could still hear Jeff scream.

 

It was much too quiet, now.

 

The others rushed in, taking advantage of -----'s vulnerability, but paying little mind to the sacrifice made for it. This was war, after all, but...

 

PBG couldn't take his eyes off him, couldn't move past him. Throwing his sword to the side and dropping to his knees, pulling Jeff into his arms was both the easiest and hardest thing he had ever done.

 

PBG wasn't sure if it was better or worse that Jeff was _still alive._ Trembling in his arms, eyes barely open, barely breathing, but _alive_. There were tears in his eyes, but with the little energy he had, he was almost _smiling_.

 

"Jeff- Oh god, no, no no no- Come on, we can't-"

 

"Peebs..." Jeff murmured, clearly much more accepting of his situation than PBG was. PBG found his hands covered in Jeff's blood, the act of breaking the seal having embedded plenty of shards into his skin, the largest most notably having ripped through his stomach, only for the shards to dissipate like the magic they were. Really, he was lucky they didn't tear him apart.

 

PBG made a feeble attempt at picking him up, but he was much too weak, and Jeff winced at the pain. There was nowhere to go anyway, no matter how much PBG wanted to deny it. PBG ended up simply cradling him in his arms, his heart in his throat slowly strangling him, and a hundred voices screaming their denials in his head.

 

"There's- Jeff, come on, please, don't-"

 

"It's okay," Jeff whispered, the pain seemingly to fade from him rapidly, giving it all to PBG.

 

"... Don't you wanna go get some glory?" Jeff asked, feebly gesturing to the distant fight, beams of light illuminating the sky.

 

PBG shook his head, tears coming to his eyes faster than he could ever hope to stop. Memories gathered, taking the place of the absent scenery, of soccer games and their afterparties, of intense practicing for the tournament and cheesy Bisney movies. PBG had cried in front of Jeff before, mainly over inconsequential things, over the childhood friend that didn't remember him or his realization about his feelings for other guys.

 

On the nights he didn't spend alone, Jeff was always there. He never thought he would find himself here, crying for reasons much too consequential. He never thought they would have to fight like this, that Jeff would _sacrifice_ like this.

 

"You're my glory," PBG choked out mindlessly, barely making any sense to himself. Somehow, it still triggered the slightest pull at Jeff's lips, what could have been a smile.

 

It was all starting to sink in, that he would never get to see Jeff smile again. That every soccer game and tourney match from now on would be without him, that neither club would ever be the same, that his best friend was slipping away in his arms. The cacophony in PBG's mind only grew, crashing over him like a wave and holding him down, drowning him, screaming _never, never, never again._

 

"Then go," Jeff whispered, tears now spilling from his eyes, but PBG couldn't tell if he had even noticed. "... Think that's why I did it..."

 

"No- You'll- You're..."

 

"I know."

 

"No- No, I..." PBG stammered, the thoughts he couldn't quite find the words to pronounce settling into his chest and choking him. But somehow, the fatalistic cacophony instilled a sense of courage in him, the knowledge that this was his _last chance_. "I... _I love you_."

 

Jeff's gaze grew further away, and PBG almost thought he had lost him until a weak and wheezing laugh wracked his chest, smiling through his tears.

 

"Would have been nice to hear... a little earlier..."

 

"I- I know, I'm sorry-"

 

PBG's apology was cut off by Jeff using, presumably, the last bit of his strength to wrap his arms around PBG's neck, burying himself in his arms. PBG eagerly pulled him closer, but he could only really focus on how cold Jeff was now, on the feeling of wet blood pressed up against him, how weak his heartbeat, how slow his breathing--

 

"... Did you just realize, just now?"

 

PBG gave a pained smile, one that Jeff couldn't see.

 

"Uh... yeah, recently..."

 

Jeff might've laughed, but it came out more like a strangled gasp, a sniffle.

 

"That's... funny. 'Cause I think I've always known. It's just... the words..."

 

"Oh my god," PBG gasped out, squeezing Jeff a bit tighter. He worried it might hurt him, but it seemed like Jeff couldn't feel it at this point. "I- I'm so sorry-"

 

"It's _okay_ ," Jeff whispered, quiet and unsteady like he was really only reassuring himself. "You don't... You can go..."

 

"No."

 

"You don't have to stay- for _this_ ," Jeff wheezed, every word growing more difficult, every breath one closer to his last.

 

"No. You're... you're okay."

 

If PBG ever had a grip on his emotions, he definitely didn't anymore. He didn't know why he was lying, or why a part of him believed it. He didn't know why he was paralyzed, frozen on the ground, or why he was feeling this way for his _best friend,_ as he was _dying_ no less. Why he knew there was nothing that could be done, and yet he was doing all he could. Why his best friend felt... _the same._

 

"... We're gonna win, alright?" PBG said blindly, praying that Jeff could still hear him. "We're gonna beat him. We're gonna win. You... you can rest now."

 

Jeff chuckled, or gasped, it was hard to tell. But a sign of life nonetheless, one that made PBG's heart race.

 

"Never doubted that."

 

PBG's eyes fell back on the battleground, the sound of war cries and metal clashing filling the air, flashes and beams of light filling the sky. The reason Jeff wasn't telling him to _go_ anymore terrified him.

 

So breathlessly and quietly that PBG wasn't sure if he had really heard it, Jeff whispered: _"I love you."_

 

PBG couldn't find it in him to respond, hypnotized by the ever ongoing battle. Eventually, a shockwave was sent through the entire battlefield, bringing him back to reality, where everything was much too quiet.

 

He'd almost forgotten he was holding Jeff. Jeff, who seemed... much too still, now...

 

"Jeff?" PBG asked, already knowing what would come of it.

 

No response.

 

PBG couldn't quite move yet, but he could _feel_ Jeff's stillness. The hiccups and shivers that came with crying now absent, the stagnation of the blood seeping out of his wound, onto PBG; not breathing, his heart no longer beating. _Gone._

 

All PBG could do was cry.

 

…

 

PBG wasn't sure how long it had been, but eventually, it somehow passed. After sitting there, clinging to Jeff's corpse and hiccupping through his sobs for god knows how long, that strange sense of _courage_ returned.

 

The echo still lingered in the back of PBG's mind, Jeff telling him, _begging_ him to _go._

 

PBG carefully pulled Jeff off of him, laying him down on his back and desperately trying not to focus on how _pale_ he was now, almost grey, or how he looked like a statue, frozen in a Mona Lisa smile, or how somehow, _he still looked b-_

 

PBG looked away, scrubbing away his tears. Jeff was right, he should have already gone. The screams and flashes had not only persisted, but grown louder and worse, and PBG knew what he had to do.

 

His fingers grazed over Jeff's eyes, closing them once and for all, then he struggled to his feet.

 

The agony of lost love and vengeful courage filled PBG's heart, pumping through his veins, and his sword returned to his hand.

 

PBG knew he wasn't going to lose another friend tonight, but Jeff would not be the only one to die.

 

A name had written itself onto PBG's blade in Jeff's blood, into the core of the Earth, into the sky, into the fabric of destiny.

 

_"-----."_

 

And PBG knew that he would be the one to kill him. _Justice._

 

With that, and with Jeff's blessing, PBG headed to the center of the battle.

 

**Author's Note:**

> and then j*red fucking died. sub to yungtown


End file.
